GHOSTBUSTERS: PPE 9
by Q-CREW
Summary: A ghost in the machine causes some monitary problems. PLUS! Because nobody demanded it: the return of Louis Tully!


Remember those kids in high school? The ones that were always picked on, always beat up, always given unsanitary showers in the bathrooms? You know; the geeks, the dorks, the nerds, the chess-playing, pocket protector wearing incredibly smart overachieving crowd that always begged for more homework from the teacher? Well, those guys used to be the ones that beat up Louis Tully.

Louis Tully: the man, the myth, the legend, the CPA. Shortly after the fiasco atop his old home on Central Park West (namely Gozer the Gozerian taking possession of both he and neighbor Dana Barrett in order to usher in his return to our world) Louis found himself sort of a celebrity. Like most other victims of major, newsworthy incidents, everyone wanted a piece of Louis. Newspapers, magazines, TV shows, advertisers, internet bloggers. Suddenly, Louis was a somebody. He was a name. He was a national hero, riding just behind the fame attained by the Ghostbusters.

Unfortunately, the ride was far too short, and soon the offers stopped coming in. People stopped asking for his autograph. Louis had once again faded into obscurity. Sure, a small part of him missed it, but a bigger part missed his job. Accounting came naturally to him and his instant celebrity status took him away from it for a little while. Fortunately, his more loyal clients came back to him, especially when they heard he had taken on the Ghostbusters. Hell, they had even let him set up shop inside their firehouse.

Until he caved in the ceiling trying to catch a ghost.

So now, he sits in his own little office in the lower portion of midtown. It's not so bad. Sure, it's not as roomy as the garage bay, but the pale white walls really contrast nicely with his various diploma and picture frames. Papers are stacked on top of filing cabinets and his desk as he works at the computer. Ah, the computer. A marvelous invention that makes his job that much easier. How did he ever get along without one? Of course, his job would be even easier if he hadn't found that accounting message board and could find the willpower to stop visiting it and do his work.

Enthralled with CoRiNtHiAnFaN's latest post on why the new W2 forms are far superior to the old ones, Louis absent-mindedly reaches out for his cup of water on his desk. Big mistake when your name is Louis Tully. He hits the cup instead and knocks it down over the edge. It lands on the power strip running from the back to the outlet on the far wall and sparks fly up. The office lights go dark and the feedback shorts out his CPU.

"Oh no," he mutters. What a time to be himself, he thinks. With tax season right around the corner, he needs the computer in order to do all those returns! Fortunately for him, he backs-up all the information on his computer on…his…computer. Now, the panic starts. On top of all those returns, now he has to re-input all his hard files back onto the computer so he can do them! "Okay, calm down, Louis! Calm down! Breathe deep, think sharp, make good decisions…" Then, it hits him; downstairs is an electronics repair shop! He can get his computer repaired quickly and even take it off as a business expense!

Quickly, Louis puts in a call to building maintenance to fix the power in his office before disconnecting his CPU. He struggles as he carries it down to the shop and drops it off. Next: a quick stop to the ATM for money to pay the guy and pick up a new power strip. Within the promised hour (with an additional 15 minute wait, if you want to get specific) Louis returns to the store for his computer.

"Here you go," the guy says, putting it up on the counter. "Inside was slightly toasted, but I was able to work around it and replaced the serious damage with some components I had sitting around here."

"Thanks," Louis says, paying the money and grabbing his CPU. With some effort, he heads back up several exhausting flights to his office. Louis replaces the power strip and his computer before getting set to retype all his records through a good part of the night.

After reinstalling the necessary software into the computer, he begins to retype each file one by one until he finally reaches the one of his most favored clients; the Ghostbusters. He opens up the folder, sits down, and begins to type. Unknown to him, the new components begin to react inside the machine; sparks of energy dancing all around them. Just as Louis finishes the file and presses enter to save it, a face suddenly appears on the screen with a digitized roar. Louis falls back out of his chair in surprise. The face disappears and the energy glides along the modem wire and out through the jack.

* * *

**GHOSTBUSTERS  
PROFESSIONAL PARANORMAL ELIMINATORS  
#9 JUNE '06  
"BANKRUPT"**

CHRIS (I'll write you an IOU) BUCHNER-Story & Chief  
ROLANDO (flat broke) MUNOZ-Breakdowns  
BEN (can I borrow a quid 'till Friday?) KING-Finishes, Letters & Edits  
ADAM (tapped out) BESTLER-Colors  
DAN (can't pay my rent) LIBERG-Edits  
FRITZ (in the red) BAUGH-Covers & Continuity

* * *

**CAFÉ ST. BART'S  
E 50TH STREET**  
A nice warm weather outdoor café next to St. Bartholomew's in midtown is the setting for the latest date between one Ray Stantz, Ghostbuster, and one Cynthia Crawford, reporter. They are the unlikeliest of pairings. Ray is a fun-loving, child-like scientist who immerses himself in his work. Granted, not as much as colleague Egon Spengler, but the paranormal is his first love. Cynthia was always about the story; the who, what, where, when, why and how. If it needed to be told, she would be the one to tell it.

But, that all changed. She had done two in-depth stories about the Ghostbusters, both of which had taken a simple concept and spun around to become about a singular member of the group. The second time wound up being about Ray, and the more she dug for info about him to report on, the more she found herself growing to like this particular Ghostbuster. Now, it's a month later and things are going great.

"…and we're doing this story on this classic car theft ring that's been moving across the nation," Cynthia says as she takes a sip from her wine. "And the police think they're heading to New York next."

"Just what we need," Ray comments.

"Yeah, but a story like this could really make my career! Just think of it, we'll be able to take that vacation in the Bahamas we talked about with the bonus money I'll get for breaking that story," she says seductively.

"Promises, promises," Ray says, jokingly. "Think you can get away from work for that long?"

"Maybe if I had the incentive," she responds, rubbing his hand. The waiter approaches their table, holding Ray's credit card in his hand, cut in half.

"Ahem, I'm sorry to bother you, sir, but your card's been declined."

"What? But that's not possible; it was brand new!" Ray grumbles as he pulls out his wallet and takes out another card.

"I'm sorry, sir, but we'll have to insist on cash from you."

"Oh, um, er…I don't have that much on me right now…uh…" Ray looks over at Cynthia embarrassed. She reaches into her purse and pulls out her own credit card.

"Don't worry, I've got it." The waiter takes the card and heads back for the register. Ray slumps in his chair, face beet red.

* * *

**THE FIREHOUSE**  
"And, and, and then this face just appeared and scared the crap out of me!" Louis says, finishing his account to Winston and Peter by Janine's desk in the garage bay.

"Well, that's something you don't see in a major appliance," Peter comments.

"I guess we should investigate," Winston says with a sigh. Since meeting Louis and the various adventures he's shared with them, he has gradually become a bit paranoid as the years went by. Paranoid or just trying to get them to let him be a Ghostbuster. When he first moved into his office, he thought a mouse was the Boogieman trying to get him, amongst other threats of various shapes and sizes, so any call they get from him is usually met with some degree of skepticism.

"Well, you guys don't have to bother, really. If you want, could just loan me a proton pack and I could go take care of it myself."

"No, no, Louis…we insist," Peter says, holding up his hands as he stands. "We'll get right on it. Just give us a moment to confer." With that, he grabs Winston's arm and pulls him over to the basement stairs.

"Are we seriously gonna look into this?" Winston asks in a whisper.

"We're not. You are."

"Me! What the hell…?"

"Hey, who's got the seniority here? Besides, if we don't go he's gonna keep bugging us till we do. And I think it's safe to say every time we ignore even the smallest of claims it usually ends up biting us in the ass. Or gets me slimed. This time, we should get proactive and keep me from getting slimed."

"AND getting our asses bit," Winston adds.

"That too. Look, just take a quick run over there. Grab the ghost-sniffer; all you'll have to do is wave it around a couple times and BS the rest of the way. Perfect dummy prop to appease Louis. I mean, that thing NEVER works for me."

"And what if I DO find something?" They hear the chum of a proton gun, followed by the blast of an ion stream as one of the lights across the garage bay explodes and falls to the ground near Janine's desk. They both turn to see Louis holding the gun of a pack charging next to the lockers, most likely accidentally hitting the trigger when he picked it up. He smiles sheepishly at them and slowly puts the gun down

"Then feed it Louis and get out of there!" Peter growls. Winston sighs and heads over to Louis. He grabs his arm and yanks him towards the door, grabbing the ghost-sniffer off a work bench along the way.

"C'mon," he says, exasperated.

"Oh, yeah, right…later, Pete!" Louis calls as he stumbles to find his footing. Before they reach the door Egon bursts through while talking on his cell phone, wearing a nice suit. Janine comes sauntering in after, dressed just as nicely and looking a little disappointed.

"What happened to your date?" Winston asks.

"I don't know…Egon got a call from a supplier and cut it short. That's who he's talking to now. Hello, Louis. Another ghost?"

"H-hey, Janine…yeah." Janine heads through the garage bay for a much needed cup of coffee as Winston continues to drag Louis out the door. "Janine and Egon? H-how long has that been…?"

"Forget it, man, you're too late; she's taken."

* * *

**SOMEWHERE**  
The ATM is a bank patron's best friend. Not only does it allow quick and easy access to cash in various accounts without the hassle of long lines and dealing with annoying people, but as they work 24/7 one can access their money long after the bank is closed. Dwayne Wetzel is one of these people, forgetting to bring sufficient money for his hot date with the secretary down the hall in his office; the one nobody can keep their eyes off of.

He heads up to the machine at one of his bank branches and inserts his card into the slot. Typing in his PIN number, he makes the appropriate selections of which account he'd like to draw from and how much. He presses the final button to confirm his selections. Suddenly, a digitized face appears on the screen, causing Dwayne to jump back.

"What the hell…!" he exclaims. The machine begins to glow with a pink aura as the money slides out of its slot. But instead of dropping into the tray to be scooped up, the money begins to fly out at Dwayne, hitting him unusually hard for things made of paper. He holds up his arms in defense as he runs away, the face laughing sinisterly before fading.

Inside the empty bank, the computers at all the teller stations begin to glow with the same aura. They each turn on and the screens become filled with account information for different people. No sooner do the records appear that their balances are wiped out and the screens jump to the next account to repeat the process.

* * *

**THE FIREHOUSE**  
"That's impossible," Egon says into his phone in his lab as he looks over his financial records. "I need those capacitors. The check shouldn't have bounced; according to my records I have more than enough to cover their cost. I highly doubt I made a mistake…oops, I misplaced a decimal point… Even so, I still had enough…sigh yes, yes, fine. I'll get you the money some other way." Egon hangs up his phone and picks up his books, looking them over. "Fascinating."

"Ghostbusters," Janine says, answering the phone. "Uh huh. Uh huh. And the address? They'll get right on it." Janine hangs up the phone and hits the bell. Peter hops out of the office and Egon slides down the pole, converging at her desk. "An ATM just attacked a man with money."

"An ATM _giving away_ money? sure he didn't get mixed up with a slot machine?" Peter asks.

"Perfect, I need to withdraw some money anyway," Egon says, taking the job sheet.

"Hey, this is the best time. Looks like this is _'The bank that likes to say Yes.'_" With that, they head over to Ecto-1. "Let Ray and Winston know where we are when they get back,"

"Sure, Dr. Venkman," Janine says.

* * *

**LOUIS' OFFICE**  
Winston waves the long rod of the ghost-sniffer around the office. He squeezes the bulb attached to the hose running out of the device slung around his shoulder, letting it take in air samples from which to draw out its readings of PKE energy.

"And then I hit a key and suddenly there was this creature thing on the screen," Louis recounts over by the computer. "And given my experiences with Gozers and flying nannies and extra-dimensional game masters and all, figured I'd better play it safe and call you guys."

"You did good, Louis," Winston says, following the wand to the computer's phone jack. He looks down at the sniffer to check the readings. "Well, if I'm using this thing right, there was something here but it's gone now."

"So it's safe?"

"It's safe."

"Well, that's a relief to hear," Louis says, sitting down on the edge of his desk and knocking over a couple stacks of files in the process.

"Well…safe from spooks…" Winston adds.

* * *

**THE BANK**  
Egon waves his PKE over the ATM and checks the readings as they appear on the screen. "There was something here, but all I'm getting are residual traces."

"So we got a mover," Peter states.

"Correct. But this is odd; I'm also getting faint readings from inside the bank." He turns to Peter. "We need to get inside."

"Well, there's the manager now talking to those cops," Peter says, pointing to the middle aged balding man whose thick black glasses make Egon's look fashionable. The manager leaves the cops and approaches the two scientists.

"I'm Morgan Chase, thanks for responding so quickly," he says to them.

"Hey, we have a passion to perform," Peter says, shrugging.

"I don't know how this could have happened…"

"You were visited by a class three full-roaming electronic apparition," Egon says.

"Uh, he means a ghost who likes computers," Peter explains.

"I…see."

"We need to get into your bank, we seem to have something in there as well," Peter continues.

"Yes, of course. Follow me." He leads them to the front door of the bank and unlocks it, letting them in. Egon follows his PKE past them towards the computers behind the protective glass of the teller area. The manager quickly joins him and unlocks the door on the wall next to it to let him in.

"The ghost invaded your bank systems," Egon declares. "Are they connected to the ATM?"

"Of..of course. They're all connected by a central network."

"And there's a modem?"

"Yes, it connects our system to every branch."

"If I were you I'd check your system over now, make sure no damage was done." The manager nods and leaves the area for his office. "The ghost is getting around along the phone lines."

"Can you track it?" Peter asks.

"With these readings it's possible, but I'll need to link up to the city's phone lines to do it. Let's get back to the firehouse."

"Why not…the _Citi_ never sleeps, so why should we?" Peter quips with a shrug as he follows Egon out.

* * *

**THE NEXT AFTERNOON**  
It had taken most of the night and a good part of the day, but Louis had just finished retyping all of his files back into his computer. All that's left now is to save his work and take a nice, long vacation. Suddenly, the phone jack connected to the computer begins to glow and it runs up the cord and into the computer. It begins to glow, startling Louis and causing him to fall back in his chair. He looks up at the screen to see the face back.

"W-what do you want!"

_"MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORE DATAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA,"_ it responds in an inhuman digitized voice.

"W-well, t-take it then!" With that, Louis scrambles to his feet and bolts out the door.

* * *

**ELSEWHERE**  
A Verizon truck sits next to an open manhole out on the street, the area around the opening blocked off with bright orange tape and the truck itself. The two occupants of the truck sit on milk crates just outside the barrier with their hardhats on the ground and their lunches in their laps. Neither one of them notices a third man dressed like them slipping under the tape right next to the truck and heading for the hole. He slips down onto the ladder and descends into the dark underbelly of the city.

Upon reaching the ground, Peter looks up and turns on the light on his hat. Above him, several trunks of phone lines runs on either wall just under the street. He reaches into his shirt pocket and pulls out a schematic to make sure of what he has to do. He refolds the paper and replaces it, going into his tool belt to remove a black box with wires running out of it. Moving closer to the wall, he pushes a couple bundles of wires out of the way until he finds his intended target. He slips the box in and rests in on a jumble, then takes the wires and connects them to the proper lines before pressing a button and closing up the other bundles around to conceal it. Peter heads back up the ladder as the device silently transmits its signal through the phone lines.

* * *

**THE FIREHOUSE**  
"We've got the signal," Ray says, sitting at the computer now hooked up to another device next to it. Egon nods as he makes the final adjustments to it.

"With the readings from the ghost and us now tapped in to the main lines of the city, it should be fairly easy to track the ghost."

"Got it," Ray says, pointing to a blip on a digital map of the city. Egon joins Ray next to Winston, looking over his shoulder at the screen as the blip moves towards the midtown area before stopping. Suddenly, it splits into several blips and goes in various directions.

"Pull up the index of banks," Egon says. With a few keystrokes, bank locations are labeled on the screen and sure enough the ghost heads right for the closest ones. Ray looks down at his pocket as his cell phone rings. He gets up to answer it and Egon takes his place.

"I fear the ghost may be growing in power," Egon states, double checking his theory with the readings on the machine.

"That's why it's able to split now?" Winston asks.

"More than likely. If only we knew what its intentions were."

"I just got off the phone with a Mr. Chase," Janine says, entering the lab. "He checked his system out like you advised, and several files had been completely erased right down to their account balances."

"Seems to be happening all over," Ray says, putting his phone back in his pocket and rejoining the group with a pad of paper. "That was Cynthia; she's just been assigned the story. Apparently, this is happening all over the city, but it's only hitting certain people. Bank accounts, credit cards, all their finances completely wiped out overnight. She gave me a list of some of the known names so far." He hands Egon the pad.

"You can add us to that list," Egon says, looking it over. "That explains why my check bounced."

"And why my credit card was rejected last night," Ray adds.

"Which means the business is broke too?" Winston asks.

"More than likely," Egon answers. "It's strange only certain people are being affected, though. There must be SOME connection to all these names. If only we knew what it was."

"GUYS!" a frantic voice calls from the hallway. Louis comes running into the lab and trips over the hall rug, flying into Janine and knocking her down.

"LOUIS!" she screams angrily.

"Er, hi, Janine…sorry about that…" The Ghostbusters all roll their eyes. Ray and Winston help him and Janine up.

"What's wrong, Louis?" Ray asks.

"The ghost! It…it came back! It…it said something about 'more data' or something!" Egon rubs his chin as he thinks. He looks down at the list Ray gave him and grabs it. He walks over to Louis and hands it to him.

"Louis, does this look familiar to you?"

"Hey, these are some of my clients! Where'd you get this?"

"I need to see your computer." With that Egon leads the others out of the lab. Peter reaches the landing from the stairs, removing his hard hat.

"Hey, guys…what's up?"

"We're following a lead, Peter, c'mon!" Ray tells him as the group files down the stairs. Peter rolls his eyes and sighs before heading back down after them.

* * *

**LOUIS' OFFICE, DUSK**  
Louis' computer lies disassembled on his desk as Egon waves his PKE over the inside contents. "You said you found energy by the jack, Winston?" he asks.

"Yeah. Residuals mostly."

"I have a stronger residual reading off this chip," Egon says, holding the one Louis had replaced.

"I got that from the shop downstairs when mine shorted out," Louis tells him.

"Hmm."

* * *

"Yeah, I took it out of an old machine I worked on," the guy in the repair shop tells the Ghostbusters. "Rigged it to work in his computer for now, was just happy to get rid of the damn thing."

"Can I see the spot where it was?" Egon asks.

"Sure, right here." He leads Egon past the counter to the back room. He shows him a shelf next to the doorway and Egon waves the PKE over it.

"Thank you." He leads the others back outside of the store. "Residual readings that were very familiar, but very weak. Something got to that chip and possessed it," he tells them. "But we'll have to worry about that later. Right now, we have to stop this ghost."

"So what do we do?" Winston asks.

"We track the ghost down and try to corral it into one line so we can sever its connection. The only way it can travel is through modems."

"I can help! What can I do?" Louis asks, eager to help clean up the mess he made (as well as prove himself to them).

"You can go back to the firehouse with Janine and wait for us. This shouldn't take too long." With that, the Ghostbusters get in Ecto-1 and head off. Louis stands there, looking dejected.

* * *

"So there's a ghost eating electronic money records?" Ray asks.

"Precisely," Egon responds as he juggles several different devices to try and predict where the ghost will be heading next. "Whatever got into that chip, it was imprinted with the accounting programs and files Louis was typing into the computer. That gave it a need to feed on that information and it has been subsequently seeking out the electronic records of the names in his files. However, I fear that once it runs out of his clients' accounts, it will begin to expand to every file within the city, and then even further just constantly feeding on the information until all electronic finances cease to be around the globe."

"So what's the big deal? I mean, it's not like the money's actually gone anywhere," Winston states, looking back at Egon in the rear view mirror from the driver's seat.

"Yes, but this is a quickly becoming a paperless society. Records and transactions are now done, for the most part, electronically. Despite how much money you may or may not have physically, if the computers say you're broke that's how the world sees you. That's society's fault for putting too much reliance on technology." One of the devices beeps and Egon turns to check it. He stops when he feels eyes upon him and looks up to see the others looking at him strangely. "What?"

"Oh, nothing, Egon," Peter says, rolling his eyes.

"Speaking of reliance on technology, we need to get some gas or else Ecto-1's gonna be useless," Winston says, looking down at the gauge.

"There's a station up ahead," Ray says. Winston pulls in and shuts the car off as an attendant approaches. He quickly gets out and opens the gas cap so the attendant can fill the tank. A minute or two later, the pump shuts off and Winston reaches for his credit card before he remembers it won't work.

"That'll be $64.98," the attendant says.

"Ah, damn." He leans down into the window. "Anybody got any cash? I've only got $20 on me." The others begin to dig through their pockets.

"I've got $5, a quarter, two cents and some lint," Peter says.

"I'm tapped out," Ray says.

"I seem to have left my wallet in my other clothes," Egon states. Winston looks up at the attendant and smiles sheepishly.

"Uh, we seem to be a little short. We're in the middle of an emergency…I don't suppose there's a way we can pay you later?"

"Sure, no problem," the attendant says with a sweet smile. Winston nods and reaches for the door as the attendant pulls out his phone and walks to the front of the car to look at the license plate.

"…What are you doing?"

"Oh, just calling the police and making sure I got your plate number right." Winston slaps his forehead as he slams the door shut.

* * *

**THE FIREHOUSE**  
Janine and Louis sit at her desk, anxiously awaiting any word from the guys about their progress. Suddenly, the phone rings.

"Ghostbusters," Janine says into the phone.

_"Janine, it's Ray. We've run into a bit of a snag…"_ Janine listens as Ray explains what he needs.

"Alright, I'll be right there," she says, hanging up the phone. She grabs her purse and car keys and stands up. "The guys need money to pay for gas. Try not to blow the firehouse up while I'm gone."

"Don't worry, I'll stay right here and read a book or something," Louis calls after her as she leaves. No sooner does the door shut that Louis hears a noise coming from upstairs. Curiously and cautiously, he makes his way up to the top floor where he discovers the noise is coming from Egon's lab. He heads inside towards the computer and the device rigged up to it. He reaches for the small portable device making the noise on top of it and takes it off. The noise stops, but the small screen comes to life to show a portion of the image on the computer screen.

"The ghost is moving and heading to this part of town! Oh no…what to do, what to do… The guys are stuck and there's no one to… There's no…one…to…" A big smile crosses over his face at the realization.

* * *

Moments later, the front doors open just wide enough to allow Louis to run out wearing one of the spare uniforms. He stops on the sidewalk, breathing heavy from the weight of the spare proton pack on his back.

"Gee, I forgot how heavy this equipment was!" He looks over at some noise coming from his right and gets an idea. A small wad of cash later, he's on the bike of a teenage boy who was riding with his friend. They stand outside the firehouse, the boy counting his money as his friend looks on.

"I toldjda, dude…riding your bike past here is a gold mine!"

* * *

**THE GAS STATION**  
"Sixty-two, sixty-three, sixty-four, sixty-five dollars," Janine says, dropping the last bill into the attendant's hand. No sooner does he tip his hat in a thank you that Ecto-1 is revved up and roaring towards the street.

"Thanks, Janine!" Peter calls as they pass her.

"You better hope you guys have money to pay me back!" Janine calls after them.

"Still got the signal, Egon?" Ray asks.

"Affirmative. It's back downtown."

"Great, and it's gonna be rush hour traffic. It'll take us forever to get there!" Winston declares. Sure enough, no sooner do they hit the avenue that they're forced to stop because of cars in front of them.

"Uh, hello?" a voice crackles over on the radio. They all look down confused at the box under the dashboard. Peter grabs the transmitter and holds it up.

"Hello?" he says into it.

"Guys! It's Louis!"

"Uh, we're kinda busy, Lou…is this important?"

"Well, I'm at Abacus bank in the Bowery with the ghost…" Louis starts as he ducks, a computer monitor being flung at him and breaking against the wall behind him. The other computers all hover in the teller area, the information quickly passing by on the screens as they're surrounded by the glowing aura.

"Louis, what are you doing there?" Peter asks.

"Trying to help…so, uh, what do I do?" Egon leans forward almost crushing Ray as he grabs for the transmitter over the front seat. Peter hands it over before he ripped his hand off in the process.

"Louis, listen carefully; did you take the portable device from the lab?"

"Yeah, I got it right here."

"There's a red button on there. I want you to press it, follow the display to the nearest telephone lines under the street, and then press it again. That will send out a signal that will draw all the pieces of the ghost together to that spot. Once that happens, use the proton pack to sever the cable at either end and then blast it."

"R-right!"

"Egon, do you realize who you're relying on to do all that? Alone? With a nuclear accelerator?" Peter asks.

"Yes. Winston, we better hurry," Egon says, sitting back. Peter leans against the door and looks out the window.

"Ah well…Manhattan was such a nice place to live. Be a shame when Louis blows it up."

* * *

**DOWNTOWN**  
Louis runs outside, following the device as Egon instructed over the city phone lines. Once he finds the spot near the edge of Chatham square, he presses the button again and sets the device down. Inside the bank, the ghost lets out a yelp and all the computers drop to the ground. The glowing aura gathers up into a ball of energy and flies out of the door Louis blasted open. It goes past the statue of Lin Ze Xu and into the ground where the device lays.

Louis pulls his proton gun and has it ready as he looks up, more energy balls flying over the buildings towards the spot. When the last energy ball lands, Louis firmly plants his feet and fires, getting thrown back and blowing up a nearby parked car. He tries again and knocks a lamp post down. Frustrated, he runs over to the statue, leans back against it, and fires one last tiome, finally blowing through the sidewalk to the cables below. He takes out the left side first, and then the right, almost losing his grip as he blasts.

Cut off, the ghost flies up out of the ground and takes shape above the ground where the cable is. Louis sees the face that has haunted his computer for the last two days, as well as something of a human-shaped torso running down into a tail. The ghost is a blend of purple and pink and pixilated, complimenting its digitized voice. Louis gulps as it looks down at him, almost seeming to recognize him.

"MOOOOOOOOOORE DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATA!" it says once again. Louis starts to lift up his blaster, but shakes his head and drops it, making a dash for the bike. Without missing a step, he pushes off and hops on, racing down the street with the ghost in hot pursuit. Louis sticks out his arm to signal a right turn and speeds around the corner and continues on towards the archway leading to the Manhattan Bridge. The ghost closes in on him as he enters the plaza in front of it, neglecting to remember that his proton gun is dragging along the pavement beside him. As soon as he begins to go straight, the gun bounces and the end hits the spokes of the rear wheel. It catches and rolls with it until coming into contact with the frame.

The wheel locks and Louis falls forward over the handlebars. He lands against the end of the stone wing that curves from the arch itself pack first before sliding to the ground. He tries to get up but finds himself in an awkward position because of the pack. He unclips the belt, slips his arms out and flops over, his trap falling off his belt. He stands and looks as the ghost draws closer to him.

"MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORE DATAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Louis raises his hands defensively as he backs up into the stone behind him.

"I…I don't have any! Really! I…I…" He notices the trap laying down by his feet, then eyes the ghost hovering just about above it. "I have data for you!"

"MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORE DATAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"Right…it's in there!" Louis says, pointing down at the trap. The ghost lowers itself as it looks at it curiously. Louis picks his foot up and stomps down on the pedal. The doors open and the ghost is engulfed by the column of light before being sucked in. The trap closes and Louis jumps up, cheering. Unfortunately, he forgot the nasty spill he just took and when he landed his back happily reminded him.

"Oooooh!" he says, hunched over and grabbing it.

* * *

**THE FIREHOUSE, LATER**  
The Ghostbusters finally got out of traffic, found Louis and brought him back with them. Egon hmms to himself as he looks over the pack Louis was wearing, the proton gun's barrel and various components on the pack itself scratched up or damaged. The others sit in the office area enjoying a little take-out dinner (courtesy of Janine).

"Gotta hand it to ya, Lou…you didn't blow the city up," Peter says, patting Louis on the back.

"Yeah, good job, little buddy," Winston adds.

"Heh thanks, guys! It was fun, glad I could help. I just wonder why it was chasing me," Louis says as he chomps down on a forkful of California Health Plate.

"More than likely it recognized you from your computer," Ray says. "It was looking for more data to feed on, and since you initially fed it, it might have figured you would give it more."

"Wow. Computers are dangerous, huh?" Louis asks.

"Only when mixed with supernatural forces," Ray responds. Winston raises his soda.

"To Louis, the man of the hour!"

"Here, here!" everyone responds, clinking their drinks together and taking a sip.

"So, does this mean I could become a Ghostbuster now?" Louis asks.

"NO!" is the emphatic response received from everyone.

**THE END**

**NEXT: Grand Theft Ecto! Plus: the Q-Crew is now on Myspace! Head to Myspace and type in qcrew at the end of the address bar and check us out.**

* * *

GHOSTBUSTERS: PROFESSIONAL PARANORMAL ELIMINATORS VOL. 1 NO. 9 MARCH, 2006 Q-CREW PRODUCTIONS. THE EVENTS DEPICTED ARE ENTIRELY FICTIONAL. ANY SIMULARITIES BETWEEN ANY LIVING OR DEAD PERSONS, BUSINESS OR ORGANIZATIONS IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL. RELEASED THROUGH ATOMIC MEDIA. 


End file.
